The Houston Texans were salivating for a rematch with the New England Patriots as they sat in the visitor's locker room, licking their wounds following a 42-14 loss Dec. 10.

If that moment ever came, they swore things would be different.

"They came out and hit us with everything they had, and that's what you do if you're going to be a championship team – you don't leave anything like that," Houston safety Danieal Manning said. "We've seen their whole hand. We didn't play our best ball, and they did. So I think that definitely the (rematch) will be different."

By beating the Cincinnati Bengals 19-13 in the first round of the NFL playoffs Saturday, the Texans ensured they would get their chance to return to Gillette Stadium and try to knock off the Patriots Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Whether or not New England showed its entire hand remains to be seen (Rob Gronkowski was sidelined in that contest). However, it seems unlikely things will be as easy for the Patriots the second time around.

With that in mind, here is a look back at few key points from the Week 14 meeting:

The Patriots scored on their first possession, picked off Matt Schaub on the next series and scored again to take a 14-0 lead. The quick edge took running back Arian Foster, the focal point of the Texans offense, out of the game as Houston was forced to the air. With the threat of running off the table, the Texans' ability to fool the Patriots with their deadly play-action passes also evaporated, turning the offense vanilla.

The overall impact of erasing Foster should not be minimized. He started by taking off for a 12-yard gain (a play erased by an illegal-formation penalty) and bolted for 15 on the next play. If the Patriots fail to build an early lead this time, Foster could cause some problems with an increased workload.

There was some celebrating in New England after the Patriots appeared to shut down Texans defensive end J.J. Watt. But this was one of those cases where perception and reality didn't mesh. While Watt only had four tackles, saying he was a nonfactor is a bit of a stretch. "Limited" may be a better way to describe his impact. Watt got in the backfield five times to hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and also forced a fumble downfield. New England did a decent job against Watt, but he was close several times and there is room for improvement Sunday.

Considering the quality of opponent, Brady had one of his better performances of the season, and at one point was serenaded by chants of "M-V-P!" from the crowd. He completed 21 of 35 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns. However, some credit deserves to go to his receivers, who spent the night quickly beating Houston's man coverage. This allowed Brady to get rid of the ball in an average of 2.27 seconds – one of the fastest snap-to-release times this season, according to ProFootballFocus.com – and helped neutralize what was supposed to be one of the NFL's better pass rushes.

Houston's offensive line seemed completely unprepared to deal with Vince Wilfork in the last meeting, and likely will not be caught off guard again. The Patriots made it impossible for the Texans to create holes on the offensive line early in the game, and seemed to go out of their way to take advantage of Houston guard Ben Jones. Wilfork recorded four run-stuffs and forced a fumble when he swatted the ball out of Schaub's hand. The Texans need to find a way to be better prepared for Wilfork's size and strength.

Looking for an easy explanation for the easy win? The Patriots only allowed the Texans to convert 4 of 13 third-down attempts. New England allowed its opponents to convert 40 percent during the regular season. A repeat performance would go a long way toward a repeat result.

Three names you need to know:

Foster: Touched on previously, he is the heart of Houston's offense. He uses his vision to find the holes created by zone-blocking schemes, and has enough power and speed to make teams pay. Foster finished the year with 17 runs of 15 or more yards, one more than New England's Stevan Ridley, en route to rushing for 1,424 yards and 15 touchdowns.

WR Andre Johnson: Johnson got off to a slow start but gained 1,154 of his 1,598 yards from Week 9 on, including 95 against the Patriots. Cornerback Aqib Talib, who is battling a hip injury, will likely spend a good amount of time paired up against Johnson.

CB Johnathan Joseph: With Watt already covered, Joseph deserves highlighting as the standout member of the secondary. One of the better corners in the league, Joseph was battling a hamstring injury the last meeting and was matched up against Brandon Lloyd for many of the nine catches Lloyd made for 89 yards. He's healthy now, so it should be more of a fair fight in the rematch.